Surrey Probate Records: Difference between revisions

VisualWikitext

Latest revision as of 16:42, 19 July 2023

Surrey Wiki Topics

Beginning Research

Record Types

Surrey Background

Local Research Resources

England

Surrey

Probate Records

Getting Started

Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. This article is about probate records in the county of Surrey. For general information about English probate records, click here.

1858 to the Present

Beginning in 1858, the Principal Probate Registry had the authority for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.

Online Records

1858-1957 England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Before 1858

Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Surrey, follow these steps;

Step 1. Search indexes

Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Surrey. Search these indexes first:

Surrey & South London Will Abstracts 1470-1856. This collection, on both findmypast and the Origins website, contains fully indexed abstracts of every Surrey will known to still exist, over 28,000 of them, dating from the 15th to 19th centuries. These area subscription websites.
The Surrey Plus Wills Index. This website provides an index to names of all people appearing in the wills of testators residing in the county of Surrey (and nine other neighboring counties). Links are provided to transcripts of wills, where available.
Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (1384 - 1858)

Did you find a reference to a probate records?

If yes, go to Step 4 below.
If no, go to Step 2 below.

Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died

Determine when your ancestor died. If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.

Determine where your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know whether the place where your ancestor lived or died is a parish. To learn whether it is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here is a link to the 1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales online:

Vision of Britain

The gazetteer will either tell you:

A place is a parish, or
What parish it is a part of, or
What place it is near.

If the latter, look that place up in the gazetteer and see if it is a parish.

Once you have identified the parish, go to Step 3.

Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish

Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it then search indexes for those courts. Every town and parish in Surrey was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary courts. Click on a link below for the letter the parish begins with:

A

B

C

D-F

G-K

L-N

O-R

S-U

V-Z

Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record

Once you have found an index reference to a probate, obtain a copy of the record. Do so by one of these methods:

Surrey England Probate Records(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - some images may only be available at a FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.
Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.

Surrey Probate Courts

These courts had some probate jurisdiction over Surrey before 1858. For more information, click on a court name.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-For an explantion of probate records in England, click [[England Probate Records|here.]]
+{{Surrey-sidebar}}{{breadcrumb
+| link1=[[England Genealogy|England]]
+| link2=[[Surrey, England Genealogy|Surrey]]
+| link3=
+| link4=
+| link5=[[Surrey_Probate_Records|Probate Records]]
+}}
+<br>
 == Getting Started  ==
-Probate is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is&nbsp;distributed to his/her&nbsp;heirs.&nbsp;
+''Probate'' is the legal court process by which the estate of a deceased person is distributed to his or her heirs. This article is about probate records in the county of Surrey. For general information about English probate records, click [[England Probate Records|here]].<br>
+=== 1858 to the Present  ===
+Beginning in 1858, the [[Principal Probate Registry|Principal Probate Registry]] had the authority&nbsp;for probating estates. Click on the link to learn more.
-In order to find a probate record for your ancestor, you must answer&nbsp;two questions:
+==== Online Records ====
-#When did your ancestor die?
+*'''1858-1957''' {{RecordSearch|2451051|England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957}} at FamilySearch - [[England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]; index
-#Where did your ancestor live or own property?
-A key date is 1858, when probate&nbsp;authority&nbsp;was&nbsp;taken&nbsp;from the ecclesiatical courts of the Church of England and given to&nbsp;the civil government.&nbsp;
+=== Before 1858  ===
-*If your ancestor died before 1858, his/her probate would have been proven by an ecclesiatical court and it is important to know where he/she lived, as that will determine which courts had jurisdiction.&nbsp;
+Before 1858, Church of England ecclesiastical courts had authority for this process. To search for a pre-1858 probate record in Surrey, follow these steps;
-*If you know where your ancestor lived before 1858, you should go to the '''Court Jurisdictions'''&nbsp;section below&nbsp;to determine what courts had jurisdiction over your ancestor's place of residence.&nbsp;
-*Beginning in 1858, probate authority was&nbsp;vested in&nbsp;the '''Principal Probate Registry''' system.&nbsp; For more information, scroll to the '''Post-1857 Probate Records''' section at the bottom of the page.
-Once you have answered the two questions and determined the courts, look for indexes.&nbsp; Indexes will be found on the individual court pages (when you click on a court name) or in the '''Probate Indexes''' section below.<br>
+==== Step 1. Search indexes  ====
-<br>
+Here are some online indexes to probate records that include individuals who lived in Surrey. Search these indexes first:
-== Surrey Probate Courts  ==
+*'''Surrey &amp; South London Will Abstracts 1470-1856'''. This collection, on both [http://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-Records/surrey-and-south-london-will-abstracts-1470-1856?_ga=1.205155344.104314983.1415224096 findmypast] and the [http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/popup-aboutbo-surrwills.htm Origins website], contains fully indexed abstracts of every Surrey will known to still exist, over 28,000 of them, dating from the 15th to 19th centuries. These area subscription websites.
+*[http://sites.rootsweb.com/~engsurry/ The Surrey Plus Wills Index]. This website provides an index to names of all people appearing in the wills of testators residing in the county of Surrey (and nine other neighboring counties). Links are provided to transcripts of wills, where available.
+*[https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/wills-or-administrations-before-1858/ Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (1384 - 1858)]
+Did you find a reference to a probate records?
+*If ''yes'', go to '''Step 4''' below.
+*If ''no'', go to '''Step 2''' below.
+==== Step 2. Identify when and where your ancestor died  ====
+Determine ''when'' your ancestor died.&nbsp;If you aren't sure, use an approximate date.&nbsp;
+Determine ''where'' your ancestor died. It is easier to find a probate record if you know whether the place where your ancestor lived or died is a [[P genealogical glossary terms|parish]]. To learn whether it is a parish, look it up in a gazetteer. Here is a link to the 1872 ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' online:
+*[https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/index.jsp Vision of Britain]
-These courts had some probate jurisdiction over Surrey before 1858.&nbsp; Click on a court name to learn more about records and indexes.<br>
+The gazetteer will either tell you:
-*The Court of the Archdeaconry of Surrey<br>
+*A place is a parish, or
-*Court of the Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Deaneries of Arches, Croydon, and Shoreham<br>
+*What parish it is a part of, or
-*Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)<br>
+*What place it is near.
-*Court of the Bishop of Canterbury (Episcopal Consistory)<br>
-== Some Explanatory Notes About the Surrey Courts  ==
+If the latter, look that place up in the gazetteer and see if it is a parish.
-== Court Jurisdictions  ==
+<br>Once you have identified the parish, go to '''Step 3.'''
-Before 1858, every town and parish in Surrey was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary eccelsiastical court and one or more secondary courts.&nbsp; In order to find the will of a deceased person, you need to know what courts had jurisdiction over the place where he/she lived. <br>
+==== Step 3. Identify court jurisdictions by parish  ====
-To see a list of Surrey places and the courts that had jurisdiction over them, click on a letter link:
+Once you have identified the parish where your ancestor lived or died, learn which courts had jurisdiction over it then search indexes for those courts. Every town and parish in Surrey was under the probate jurisdiction of a primary court and one or more secondary courts. Click on a link below for the letter the parish begins with:
-{| cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" style="width: 348px; height: 24px;"
+{| cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1" style="width: 348px; height: 24px"
 |-
 | &nbsp; [[Surrey Probate Jurisdictions, Parishes A|A]]
@@ Line 50: / Line 73: @@
 |}
-<br>
+==== Step 4. Obtain a copy of the probate record  ====
-== Probate Indexes Online  ==
+Once you have found an index reference to a probate, obtain a copy of the record. Do so by one of these methods:
-Before looking for a will, you should search an index. <br>&nbsp;
+*{{FSC|330406|subject_id|disp=Surrey England Probate Records}}(*) at FamilySearch Catalog - some images may only be available at a [https://www.familysearch.org/centers/locations/ FamilySearch Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.]<br>
+*Visit or contact the record office that has the original records in its collection.
-[http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/popup-aboutbo-surrwills.htm http://www.originsnetwork.com/help/popup-aboutbo-surrwills.htm]
+== Surrey Probate Courts  ==
-Surrey &amp; South London Will Abstracts1470-1856<br>This extraordinary collection is one of the most valuable on British Origins. It contains fully indexed abstracts of every Surrey will known to still exist, over 28,000 of them, dating from the 15th to 19th centuries; nearly all the originals are held at the London Metropolitan Archives.
+These courts had some probate jurisdiction over Surrey before 1858.&nbsp; For more information, click on a court name.
-The abstracts include all personal names (testator, beneficiaries, executors, witnesses, overseers, and others) with their relationships, place names, occupations, monetary and other bequests, and descriptions of lands. The indexes include the names of every person mentioned - over a half of a million names - places mentioned (many outside Surrey), subjects (eg occupations) mentioned in the wills, and of dates. <br>
+*[[Court of the Archdeaconry of Surrey]]
+*[[Court of the Commissary of the Bishop of Winchester in the Archdeaconry of Surrey]]
+*[[Court of the Bishop of Winchester]] (Episcopal Consistory)
+*[[Court of the Bishop of London (Episcopal Consistory)]]
+*[[Court of the Bishop of Canterbury]] (Episcopal Consistory)
+*[[Courts of the Bishop (Episcopal Consistory) and Archdeaconry of Winchester]]
+*[[Court of the Deanery of the Arches of London, Croydon, Shoreham (Peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury)]]
+*[[Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of Canterbury]]
-&nbsp;
+<br>
-[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~engsurry/ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~engsurry/]
-The Surrey Plus Wills Index provides an index to names of all people appearing in the wills of testators residing in the County of Surrey, England (and nine other Counties). Links are provided to transcripts of wills, where available. No guarantee of accuracy can be given, nor any responsibility accepted for any mistakes or omissions. All names and transcripts appearing on this site are the work of individuals, which they have kindly donated. Copyright of each transcript remains with the contributor. Please do not reproduce transcripts in any form, other than for personal use, without permission.<br>Last updated 13 Apr '08: Currently contains 41,362 Names from 2,540 Surrey &amp; 1,099 non-Surrey Wills (BDF-88, BRK-89, BKM-57, HAM-144, KEN-79, MDX-266, NTH-142, OXF-106, SSX-128), 3,314 Transcripts/Extracts with 19 Inventories<br>
-&nbsp;
-== Post-1857 Probate Records  ==
-Beginning in 1858, the government took over the&nbsp;settlement of estates and all&nbsp;wills are now probated through the Principal Probate Registry system.&nbsp; The system consists of 11 district registry offices and&nbsp;18 sub-district registries, located throughout England and Wales, and&nbsp;the principal registry&nbsp;office located in London.&nbsp; The records are available through the office of Her Majesty's Courts Service.&nbsp; To learn more, go to the [http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/civil/probate/index.htm HMCS website].
+[[Category:Surrey Probate Records|Probate]]
-A&nbsp;country-wide surname index to the records is available, so it is much easier to look for post-1857 wills.&nbsp; The [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=titledetails&titleno=208102&disp=Calendar+of+the+grants+of+probate+and+le%20%20&columns=*,0,0 indexes] for 1858-1957 and the records for 1858-1925 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library.<br>
-[[Category:England|England]]
-<br>